This disclosure relates to energy management, and more particularly to electrical device control methods and electrical energy consumption systems. The disclosure finds particular application to energy management of appliances, for example, dishwashers, clothes washers, dryers, HVAC systems, etc.
Many utilities are currently experiencing a shortage of electric generating capacity due to increasing consumer demand for electricity. Currently utilities generally charge a flat rate, but with increasing cost of fuel prices and high energy usage at certain parts of the day, utilities have to buy more energy to supply customers during peak demand. If peak demand can be lowered, then a potential huge cost savings can be achieved and the peak load that the utility has to accommodate is lessened. In order to reduce high peak power demand, many utilities have instituted time of use (TOU) metering and rates which include higher rates for energy usage during on-peak times and lower rates for energy usage during off-peak times. As a result, consumers are provided with an incentive to use electricity at off-peak times rather than on-peak times, and to reduce overall energy consumption of appliances at all times.
Presently, to take advantage of the lower cost of electricity during off-peak times, a user must manually operate power consuming devices during the off-peak times. However, a consumer may not always be present in the home to operate the devices during off-peak hours. In addition, the consumer may be required to manually track the current time to determine what hours are off-peak and on-peak.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a system that can automatically operate power consuming devices during off-peak hours in order to reduce consumer's electric bills and also to reduce the load on generating plants during on-peak hours. Active and real time communication of energy costs of appliances to the consumer will enable informed choices of operating the power consuming functions of the appliance.
To better inform the user about energy costs and usage there arises a need to get specific inputs from all devices within the home area network (HAN) regarding the amount of power each device is consuming on a real time basis. This disclosure provides a means of acquiring this data to be shared with the user as disclosed herein.